CfotJ&m 


In  all  Hges 
■ « 


A brief  history  of  its  evolution. 

To  accompany  an  Exhibition  of  Fans, 
mostly  French,  of  the  XVIIIth  Century, 
illustrating  the  decorative  art  of  that 
period  as  applied  to  fans. 


Exhibited  at  the  Grolier  Club, 
29  East  32d  Street,  New = York, 
from  April  21  to  May  5,  1891. 


Hite 

In  all  Hges 
¥ 

A brief  history  of  its  evolution. 

To  accompany  an  Exhibition  of  Fans, 
mostly  French,  of  the  XVIIIth  Century, 
illustrating  the  decorative  art  of  that 
period  as  applied  to  fans. 


Exhibited  at  the  Grolier  Club, 
29  East  32d  Street,  New  = York, 
from  April  21  to  May  5,  1891. 


A descriptive  card  is  affixed  to  each  fan  in  the 
present  collection. 

The  engravings  of  fans  which  are  in  frames  on 
the  wall  represent  the  collection  made  by  Mr.  E. 
Bnissot,  of  Paris  ; they  are  of  the  time  of  Louis 
XIV,  XV  and  XV l.  This  collection  came  to  New 
York,  and  some  of  them  will  be  recognised  in  this 
exhibition. 


Fan  of  Madame  de  Pompadour. 

jfan. 

“ That  graceful  toy  whose  waving  play 
With  gentle  gales  relieves  the  sultry  day.” 

Gay. 

That  u instrument  of  love”  we  use  to  u mitigate 
the  fever  of  the  sky  ” is  as  old  as  civilization  itself. 
It  had  its  origin  in  the  East,  where,  as  they  say,  the 
terrestrial  Paradise  was  situated.  And  it  must  be 
so,  no  doubt,  the  fan  being  one  of  the  weapons  of 
coquetry,  and  coquetry  having  been  born  with  the 
first  motion  of  the  first  woman. 

The  law  that  bids  man  pass  from  the  simple  to 
the  complex  holds  good  in  the  history  of  the  fan  as 
well  as  in  that  of  all  other  works  of  human  ingenuity. 
Like  everything  else  it  has  its  pedigree,  u If  a thorn 
was  the  first  needle,  no  doubt  a palm  leaf  was  the 
first  fan.”  Nothing  is  more  natural  than  that  the 
leaves  of  the  palm-tree,  lotus,  and  banana-tree  should 

3 


4 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


have  been  employed  as  fans  first  in  their  original 
state,  then  should  have  been  worked  upon,  orna- 
mented and  reduced  to  more  suitable  and  elegant 
shapes.  Cut  No.  1 presents  the  form  of 
the  primitive  fan  as  it  is  shown  in  the 
oldest  Hindostanic  bas-reliefs.  There 
is  scarcely  a single  old  Indian  tomb- 
stone on  which  these  three  inseparable 
companions  of  tropical  man  — fan, 
fly-broom  and  parasol  — are  not  sculp- 
tured. In  the  great  Sanskrit  epic  poem, 
the  “ Mahabharata,”  it  is  related  that 
King  Kila  had  a daughter  endowed 
with  the  rarest  beauty.  She  had  charge 
of  the  sacred  fire, 
and  endeavored 
to  make  the 
fire  blaze  by 
usingherfan, 
instead  of  her 

delicate  lungs  Ancient  Talapat 
j v or  Palm-tree 

and  charm-  Fan  from 

inglips.  “But  Hindostan. 
it  was  of  no  use,”  concludes 
the  poet;  “the  celestial  fire 
not  only  would  not  blaze,  but 

Ancient  Bui-  ^ ahnost  expired  ; being  taken 
rush  Fan.  with  love  for  Nakarita,  it  could 
not  live  without  her  breathing.”  This  prime- 
val fan  is  still  at  present  a part  of  the  attire 
of  certain  Buddhist  priests  in  the  kingdom 
of  Siam,  and  from  it  they  take  their  name 
of  Talapoins,  the  fan’s  name  being  talapat, 
“ palm-tree  leaf,”  in  the  Siamese  language. 


THE  FAN. 


O 


Cut  No.  2 depicts  a peculiar  kind  of  fan  about 
which  very  little  is  known,  but  which  probably  be- 
longs to  the  same  period  as  No.  1,  as  monuments  of 
the  same  period  attest;  it  proves  how  man’s  inge- 
nuity was  already  exercising  itself  in  the  manufacture 
of  the  fan.  It  is  made  of  woven  bulrushes,  painted 
in  various  colors. 

Captain  Basil  Hall  believed  that  the  use  of  large 
fans  hanging  from  the  ceiling,  and 
moved  like  bells  by  pulling  a 
string,  originated  with  the  Eng- 
lish in  modern  times.  That  they 
were  widely  used  in  Italy  and 
Spain  as  early  as  the  fourteenth 
century,  appears  from  a letter  of 
the  time  by  Gfuez  de  Balzac : in- 
deed, they  are  even  of  still  greater 
antiquity,  having  been  known  to 
the  Assyrians  about  three  thou- 
sand years  ago,  as  attested  by  the 
bas-reliefs  found  in  the  ruins  near 
Nineveh. 

In  the  Egyptian  cosmogony  the 
fan  was  an  emblem  of  happiness 
and  rest  as  well  as  of  authority.  No  3>  Egyptian 
That  is  why  triumphal  chariots 
were  surrounded  by  fans  and  flowery  boughs.  The 
most  ancient  Egyptian  fans  known  to  us  are  thirty- 
five  centuries  old,  and  are  of  the  form  indicated 
by  cuts  Nos.  3 and  4.  In  a bas-relief  at  Nimroud 
is  represented  a slave  in  the  act  of  cooling  the 
liquid  contained  in  a pitcher,  by  waving  a fan  shaped 
like  a palm-leaf — a frequent  subject  of  Egyptian 
decoration. 

1A 


6 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


Just  liow  and  wlien  the  fan  strayed  into  Egypt, 
whether  with  merchant  or  pilgrim,  over  desert  or 
over  sea,  has  not  been  clearly  stated.  But  that  it 
was  conveyed  thither  at  an  extremely  early  date  is 
shown  by  pictorial  records  extant  in  Thebes.  In  the 
temple  of  Medinet-Habau,  Rameses  III.  (1235  B.  c.) 


is  represented  attended  by  nobles  bearing  screen- 
shaped fans.  These  were  composed  of  papyrus 
leaves,  semicircular  in  form,  of  brilliant  hue,  sup- 
ported on  long  handles,  parti-colored  or  entwined, 
and  served  invariably  as  battle  standards. 

But  it  was  under  a softer  rule  that  Egypt  yielded 
more  than  these  prosaic  data,  and  we  may  indulge 


THE  FAN. 


7 


in  a little  poetry  in  connection  with  Cleopatra’s  sway. 
In  her  time  the  fan  lost  much  of  its  martial  character , 
drooping*  to  its  most  sensuous  usage  when  it  screened 
her  voluptuous  charms. 

Shakespeare,  who  has  extolled  Egypt’s  sovereign 
coquette  in  a pen  picture  as  immortal  as  her  beauty, 
contributes  incidentally  to  the  story  of  the  fan  in 
the  familiar  lines  : 

She  did  lie 

In  her  pavilion  (cloth-of-gold  of  tissue), 

O’er  picturing  that  Venus,  where  we  see 
The  fancy  out-work  nature  : on  each  side  her 
Stood  pretty  dimpled  boys,  like  smiling  Cupids, 
With  divers-color’d  fans,  whose  wind  did  seem 
To  glow  the  delicate  cheeks  which  they  did  cool, 
And  what  they  undid,  did. 

From  India,  through  the  Assyrians,  the  fan  was 
handed  down  to  the  Medes  and  Persians,  with  whom, 
according  to  Xenophon,  it  became,  together  with  the 
fly-broom,  a symbol  of  royalty. 

It  was  later  that  the  fan  was  imported  into  Arabia. 
Toward  the  beginning  of  our  era,  the  Arabians  were 
accustomed  to  write  inscriptions  and  religious  sen- 
tences upon  it;  later  on,  they  had  ostrich -feather 
fans,  as  shown  in  cut  No.  5.  The  stories  of  the 
u Arabian  Nights  ” contain  the  first  record  of  these 
fans.  It  is  related  in  u The  Sleeper  Awakened” 
that,  when  Abou  Hassan  fancied  himself  to  be  the 
commander  of  the  faithful,  he  was  introduced  into  a 
splendid  banqueting-room  where  a table  was  spread. 
As  he  sat  at  the  table,  seven  beautiful  women  began 
to  fan  him  assiduously  with  their  feather  fans. 
Large  feather  fans  obtained  favor  in  Persia,  where 
also  an  Assyrian  bas-relief  in  the  ruins  of  Koycundjik 


8 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


preserves  the  drawing  of  a cooling  apparatus  similar 
to  the  Indian  punkah  of  the  present  day. 


The  Greeks  received  the  fan  from  the  Assyrians 
through  intermediate  trade  with  the  Phoenicians. 


THE  FAN. 


9 


Though  Homer  and  Anacreon  do  not  speak  of  it,  it 
is  nevertheless  a fact  that  it  was  used  in  Greece. 
Euripides  mentions  it  in  his  “ Orestes,”  and  sculptors 
often  put  it  in  the  hands  of  their  goddesses  and 
women.  Cuts  Nos.  6,  7,  and  8 give  fans  as  repre- 
sented by  the  classical  sculpture  of  the  country. 

The  fan  is  of  equal  antiquity  in  China  and  Japan, 
where  it  has  always  been  extensively  in  use.  In 
fact,  it  is  an  essential  part  of  the  national  costume. 
It  is  on  the  fan  that  Japanese  students  take  their 
notes  $ it  is  by  waving  the  fan  that  people  salute 
each  other  in  the  street ; Chinese  and  Japanese 
soldiers  handle  the  fan  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy  • 
Generals  in  Japan  carry  a fan  with  iron  ribs  and 
silk  cover,  decorated  with  the  arms 
of  Japan.  When  the  commander  of 
a corps  orders  the  attack,  he  throws 
his  fan  into  the  air  as  far  as  he  can, 
as  the  Prince  of  Conde  threw  his 
baton  into  the  enemy’s  intren ch- 
in ent  during  the  bloody  battle  of 
Fribourg  in  1646.  The  form  of 
Desima,  an  artificial  little  island  of 
the  Niphon  archipelago  constructed 
in  1635,  and  allotted  as  a residence 
to  the  Portuguese  who  had  taken 
up  their  abode  in  Japan,  is  that  of 
a fan,  the  question  of  its  form  hav- 
ing been  determined  upon  by  the 
emperor  showing  the  engineers  his 
fan. 

A very  early  Chinese  fan  is  re- 
presented in  an  ancient  miniature 
now  in  the  National  Library  at 

IB 


W 

No.  9. 

From  an  ancient 
Miniature  in  tlie 
National  Library  at 
Paris. 


10 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


Paris.  See  cut  9.  The  Chinese  have  a legend  re- 
garding the  invention  of  the  fan. 

Lam-si,  the  tale  runs,  lovely  daughter  of  an  all- 
powerful  mandarin  of  the  Flowery  Kingdom,  was 
bidden  to  an  imperial  fete,  which  she  attended 
masked,  conformably  to  court  etiquette  of  her  day. 
Becoming  intolerably  heated  she  tore  her  mask  from 
her  face  in  defiance  of  custom,  and  fanned  herself 
with  it  vigorously.  She  was  so  beautiful  and  so 
exalted  in  rank  that  her  offense  was  pardoned  and 
her  example  followed  by  others ; thus  the  hand  fan 
had  its  birth  and  was  universally  adopted  by  both 
sexes. 

In  Japan  the  fan  underwent  the  greatest  change 
and  improvement  that  was  ever  experienced  in  its 
manufacture.  From  its  leaf -like  form  it  passed  to 
the  shape  of  the  quadrant,  and  became  handy,  por- 
table, and  folding. 

This  pliable  shape  was  first  seen  in  the  hands  of 
the  Japanese  god  of  happiness,  the  process  of  fold- 
ing or  overlaying  having  resulted  from  a study  of 
the  wings  of  a bat.  It  was  adopted  in  China  about 
900  a.  d.,  passed  thence  to  Portugal,  Spain,  and 
Italy,  reaching  France  with  the  Italian  perfumers 
who  accompanied  Catherine  de  Medicis. 

On  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  also,  the  fan  has  been 
in  use  for  centuries  past.  In  Mexico,  the  Toltecs,  a 
nation  that  preceded  the  Aztecs,  held  it  as  a symbol 
of  command.  Ometenctli , their  god,  and  Totec , the 
military  disciple  of  the  founder  of  their  monarchy, 
are  pictured  as  having  a feather  fan  in  their  hand, 
similar  to  cut  No.  10.  Its  name  was  Tleoatrekuaquet- 
zcilli ; another  kind  of  Mexican  fan  was  called 
Tsine&cantlauqueclioli , and  a third  TeocuytlayxcuaamaiL 


THE  FAN. 


11 


After  Greece  the  fan  made  appearance  in  Italy, 
where  it  maintained  its  vogue  for  a protracted  period, 
finally  vanishing  from  Europe  with  the  last  of  the 
Caesars. 

It  never  lost  caste  ; it  was  everywhere  a luxury, 
receiving  fresh  treatment  and  enrichment.  A por- 
tion of  its  chronicle  survives  in  Etruscan  vase  draw- 
ings; paintings  unearthed  at  Herculaneum  attest 
its  usage  in  south- 
ern Italy;  and  both 
Virgil  and  Ovid  refer 
to  it. 

“ Dost  thou  wish,’7 
Ovid  asks  of  his  be- 
loved, u that  a gentle 
breeze  cool  the  heat 
of  thy  cheeks  This 
leaf,  waved  by  my 
hand,  will  afford  thee 
this  pleasure,  unless 
it  be  the'  fire  of  my 
love  rather  than  the 
warmth  of  the  weather 
that  inflameth  thee,  No.  10. 

and  thy  heart  be  Ancient  Feather  Fan  of  Mexico. 

burning  with  a more  charming  blaze.”  In  Rome, 
as  well  as  in  Greece,  the  fan  of  the  wealthy  had  a 
very  long  handle  to  prevent  any  one  fanning  him- 
self, fashion  decreeing  that  a young  slave  be  em- 
ployed for  this  purpose.  These  slaves  were  called 
flabelliferi  or  u fan-bearers.” 

Christians,  as  Pagans  before  them,  applied  the  fan 
to  liturgic  ceremonies,  and  the  first  Christian  fan- 
makers  were  some  Syrian  monks,  St.  Fulgence  and 


12 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


St.  Jerome.  The  oldest  Christian  fan  transmitted 
to  us  dates  from  the  sixth  century,  and  belonged  to 
Queen  Theodelinda,  the  saintly  princess  who  pos- 
sessed a nail  of  the  holy  cross  which  was  hammered 
and  set  in  the  interior  of  the  Iron  Crown  of  the  kings 
of  Italy.  This  fan  is  preserved  in  the  Castle  of 
Monza,  near  Milan,  and  is  shown  to  the  tourist  as  a 
relic.  It  is  of  leather  and  is  divided  into  two  leaves, 
which,  when  the  fan  is  not  in  use,  are  folded  one 
upon  the  other  (see  cut  No.  11) ; by  means  of  a 
spring  these  leaves  are  opened  out  as  shown  in  cut 


No.  12.  The  leaf  is  gilded  and  ornamented  with 
pearls  and  rubies,  and  presents  the  traces  of  a Latin 
inscription  (very  likely  a prayer)  now  illegible.  The 
handle  is  of  engraved  gold  inlaid  with  gems.  Super- 
stition has  lent  the  fan  a magical  power ; on  a cer- 
tain day  in  the  year,  girls  from  the  country  around 
go  to  Monza  in  pilgrimage  for  the  purpose  of  touch- 
ing it,  as  it  is  thought  this  will  facilitate  their  mar- 
riages. 


THE  FAN. 


13 


In  the  Apostolic  Constitutions  that  are  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  the  Catholic  church,  it  was  ordered 
that  during  mass,  from  the  oblation  to  the  commu- 
nion, two  deacons  standing  on  either  side  of  the  altar 
should  wave  each  a peacock-feather  fan,  in  order  to 
add  to  the  celebrant’s  comfort  as  well  as  to  prevent 
flies  and  other  insects  from  alighting  on  the  con- 
secrated offering.  By  Christians,  too,  the  fan  seems 
to  have  been  regarded  as  a symbol  of  authority,  be- 
cause while,  owing  perhaps  to  its  increasing  appli- 
cation to  worldly  purposes,  it  gradually  fell  into 
disuse  in  the  performance  of  religious  ceremonies, 
the  pope  retained  the  privilege  of  using  it,  and  even 
at  present,  on  estate  occasions,  he  appears  preceded 
by  two  fan-bearers  carrying  each  a fan  made  of 
ostrich  feathers. 

After  a prolonged  absence,  the  fan  reappeared 
in  Europe  with  the  crusaders,  who 
brought  it  in  the  shape  of  a small 
screen-like  article  from  the  lands  of 
the  Saracen,  This  trinket,  infinitely 
modified,  has  ever  since  retained  its 
place  in  the  Occident. 

Fans  were  commonly  used  in 
France  in  the  early  part  of  the  tenth 
century,  as  shown  by  Etienne  Boi- 
leau’s  manuscript  book  on  u Trades” 

(1260). 

In  the  miniatures  which  adorn  the 
most  ancient  secular  MSS.  ladies  are 
represented  carrying  rice  straw  fans 
like  those  still  seen  in  Tunis  and 
Algiers,  and  figured  in  cut  13. 

The  Italian  fan,  which  had  gained 


No.  13. 

Fan  of  Middle 


14 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


already  a great  reputation  for  excellence  of  work- 
manship, was  introduced  into  France  by  the  Italian 
perfumers  who  followed  Catherine  de  Medicis  to  the 
court  of  St.  Louis.  New  kinds  of  fans  appeared  in 
Italy  about  this  time,  two  of  which  are  represented 
in  the  cuts  Nos.  14  and  15.  The  first  was  made  of  fea- 
thers and  artificial  flower  leaves.  The  second  took  its 


No.  15.  Fan  of  Eleonora  d’Este, 
Duchess  of  Ferrara. 


No.  14. 

XIV  Century,  Tufted. 


name  from  the  lovely  Princess 
Eleonora  d’Este,  so  celebrated 
in  connection  with  Torquato 
Tasso’s  love  and  poems.  This 
fan  was  connected  with  per- 
haps the  happiest  moment  in  the  eventful  life  of 
the  great  poet.  The  beautiful  Eleonora  loved  him  : 
though  bound  by  family  duties  she  had  never  al- 
lowed her  feelings  to  become  known,  and  poor  Tasso 
could  only  infer,  from  occasional  gracious  glances, 
that  his  love  was  not  entirely  in  vain.  One  day  he 
was  reading  to  her  the  portion  of  his  “ Jerusalem” 


THE  FAN. 


15 


in  which  the  attachment  between  Olinda  and  So- 
phronia  is  described.  The  lovely  woman  was  enrap- 
tured and  for  a moment  lost  her  self-control.  Won 
by  the  poet,  she  was  on  the  point  of  embracing  the 
lover.  She  hesitated  a moment,  grasped  her  fan, 
kissed  it,  threw  it  at  the  poet’s  feet,  and  filed. 

Another  fan  is  called  the  flag, 
or  turning  fan,  and  is  better 
known  as  “ Titian’s  wife’s  fan” 
from  the  one  held  by  her  in  the 
portrait  in  the  Dresden  gallery. 

Another  style  of  Italian  fan  is 
shown  in  the  cut  No.  16.  At 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century 
water-color  painting  began  to 
be  applied  to  the  decoration 
of  paper  and  parchment  fans; 
the  decoration  was  chiefly  love 
scenes  or  views  of  some  remark- 
able landscape.  While  it  should 
be  recorded  that  in  various  capitals  of  Europe  — 
Venice,  Padua,  Naples,  Madrid  — ladies  of  rank 
never  entirely  abandoned  the  fan,  it  was  not  until 
1380,  in  an  inventory  of  the  effects  of  Charles  V. 
of  France,  that  we  find  any  allusion  to  a fan 
which  could  bend  or  double.  This  was  embellished 
with  the  arms  of  France  and  Navarre  painted  on 
leather.  Others  similar  to  it  were  in  use  until  the 
reign  of  Francis  I.,  when  the  folding  fan,  as  we 
know  it,  supplanted  all  previous  styles.  It  took  the 
fancy  of  the  court  and  speedily  gave  rise  to  a novel 
industry,  which  supported  a new  class  of  skilled 
artisans,  who  called  themselves  “fan  makers”  to 
his  majesty.  The  so-called  “lambskin”  mount  was 


No.  16. 

Early  Italian  Fan. 


16 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


invented  for  Henry  III.,  an  effeminate  monarch  who 
made  personal  use  of  the  fan  as  an  addition  to  a full 
toilet. 

In  France,  during  the  reigns  of  Henry  IV.  and 
Louis  XIII.,  the  fan  nearly  gave  rise  to  a civil  war; 
the  various  corporations  of  artisans  and  dealers  be- 
ing opposed  to  the  acknowledgment  of  fan-making 
as  an  art  distinct  from  the  others,  as  this  would 
have  deprived  them  of  the  privilege  of  manufactur- 
ing and  dealing  in  the  article.  It  was  only  during 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  that  fan-makers  succeeded 
in  having  their  rights  recognized  and  chartered. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  fans  showed  a strik- 
ing tendency  to  increase  in  size.  “ The  Mercury,”  a 
French  paper  of  fashions,  in  a number  of  January, 
1678,  states  that  their  size  should  be  in  keeping  with 
the  volume  of  the  dresses  worn ; at  that  time,  as  it 
is  known,  the  guardinfante  gave  ladies  the  shape  of 
immense  demijohns, — no  wonder,  then,  that  fans 
were  two  feet  square.  But  the  reaction  came  ; this 
style  of  fan  was  replaced  by  the  “Lilliputian,”  or 
“imperceptible”  ones.  These  suggested  to  Mme. 
De  Genlis  her  saying  — “When  women  were  timid 
and  blushed,  they  used  to  carry  large  fans  and  they 
hid  their  faces  behind  them.  Now  that  they  blush 
no  longer  and  are  intimidated  by  nothing,  they  do 
not  care  to  hide  their  faces,  and  consequently  they 
carry  but  microscopic  fans.” 

In  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  fan 
blades  numbered  four  to  sixteen  ; silk  textures  came 
into  use  for  the  mount,  and  the  fan  fell  open  to  a 
quarter  circle  only.  Later  the  quantity  of  blades 
increased  to  as  many  as  twenty-six.  After  the  re- 
vocation of  the  edict  of  Nantes  French  fan-makers 


THE  FAN. 


17 


fled  to  England,  spreading  the  mode  there  among 
all  classes.  In  Italy  and  Spain  fans  held  continuous 
sway.  In  fact  Spanish  fans  were  extensively  im- 
ported into  France,  until  Louis  XIV.  sanctioned  the 
reestablishment  of  a fan-makers’  guild  in  1676. 

At  this  period  Spain,  Holland,  and  Italy  attained 
the  height  of  their  industrial  and  artistic  achieve- 
ments as  fan- designers,  and  never  again,  in  either 
a commercial  or  pictorial  sense,  have  they  equaled 
or  approached  French  models. 

Spain  in  particular,  whose  women  are  so  renowned 
for  coquetry  and  grace  in  handling  the  fan,  has  not 
since  acquired  any  distinction  in  its  manufacture. 

u In  the  hand  of  a Spanish  lady,”  says  Benjamin 
Disraeli,  u the  fan  is  a weapon  that  puts  to  shame 
the  strategy  of  a regiment  of  generals.” 

France  has  frequently  been  called  the  true  home 
of  the  fan,  and  from  France  certainly  have  emanated 
the  most  beautiful  historic  specimens  we  read  of.  The 
French  artisan  displayed  a singular  aptitude  for  the 
dainty  workmanship  requisite  to  this  craft  and  a 
marvelous  fertility  in  design.  To  the  time  of  Louis 
XIV.  belong  the  celebrated  “Vernis  Martin”  ex- 
amples. Fans  supposed  to  have  come  from  his 
hand  are  recognized  by  the  translucent,  soft,  durable 
varnish  which  he  invented  and  applied,  and  which 
has  never  since  been  equaled.  Whether  he  painted 
any  of  the  pictures  and  decorations  is  doubtful.  If 
he  did  not,  the  names  of  the  artists  who  executed 
them  have  perished,  with  the  exception  of  Huet, 
Vien,  and  perhaps  another. 

Louis  XV.  made  as  much  personal  use  of  the  fan 
as  any  beauty  of  the  day  and  considered  it  an  essen- 
tial feature  of  his  dress.  His  liberal  encouragement 


18 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


of  the  fine  arts  as  applied  to  the  decoration  of  the 
fan  has  linked  his  name  with  its  history  to  a greater 
extent  than  that  of  any  other  royal  or  noble  patron. 
Famous  artists  like  Watteau,  Fragonard,  Lancret, 
Boucher,  Le  Brun,  Moreau,  Eisen,  Wille,  and  Maril- 
lier  were  engaged  in  the  ornamentation  of  fans. 
Laces  of  the  finest  quality  were  used  on  the  mounts, 
which  were  also  decorated  with  miniature  paintings 
of  extraordinary  merit.  The  fan  in  fact  grew  into  an 
object  of  high  art  and  upon  it  was  lavished  a degree 
of  artistic  skill  which  excites  our  greatest  wonder  and 
admiration.  The  fan  of  this  period  fairly  reflects  in 
its  costliness  and  splendor  the  reckless  extravagance 
and  luxury  which  marked  the  age  and  which  continued 
unchecked  throughout  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  and 
up  to  the  actual  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution, 
when  the  fan  again  became  a mirror  of  the  time,  and 
the  favorite  subjects  for  its  adornment  were  The 
Convocation  of  the  General  States,  The  Inauguration 
of  the  Assembly,  the  portrait  of  Mirabeau,  and  repre- 
sentations of  the  three  sisters,  Liberty,  Equality,  and 
Fraternity.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Charlotte 
Corday  carried  a knife  in  one  hand  and  the  popular 
fan  with  the  motto  “ Freedom  or  Death”  in  the 
other,  at  the  killing  of  Marat.  The  ingenuity  of  the 
Royalists  was  stimulated  by  the  dangers  to  which  they 
were  exposed,  and  in  order  to  communicate  their 
political  sentiments  without  discovery  they  devised 
the  u weeping-willow  fan,”  the  leaves  of  which,  when 
examined  closely,  holding  the  fan  turned  upside 
down,  represented  images  of  Louis  XVI.,  Marie  An- 
toinette, and  other  members  of  the  royal  family. 
They  contrived  also  transparent  fans  which  only 
revealed  their  political  meaning  by  being  placed 


THE  FAN. 


19 


against  the  light.  To  such  a fan  Madame  De  Cev- 
ennes  owed  her  death,  and  on  the  scaffold  she  bravely 
waved  a similar  one  which  she  had  secretly  procured. 
The  fashion  of  painted  fans  continued  during  the 


No.  17.  Mary  Stuart’s  Fan. 


Empire.  Since  that  time  a number  of  new  fans  have 
been  invented,  which  have  been,  and  still  are,  more 
or  less  in  use. 

The  fan  made  its  appearance  in  England  during 
the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  and  at  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth century  it  was  widely  used  among  ladies  of 
rank.  Elizabeth  received  it  with  so  much  favor  that 
she  became  known  as  the  ‘ 6 Patron  of  fans.”  She 
established  a rule  that  no  present,  save  a fan,  should 


20 


THE  GROLIER  CLUB. 


be  accepted  by  English  queens  from  their  subjects. 
Whether  she  acquired  her  own  in  this  way  or  not,  no 
less  than  twenty- seven  fans  were  enumerated  among 
her  personal  effects  at  her  death. 

Cut  No.  17  represents  the  prevailing  style  of  the  Eng- 
lish fan  of  that  period  ; it  is  a reproduction  of  one  be- 
longing to  Mary  Stuart.  Shakespeare  in  placing  the 
scene  of  u Love’s  Labour’s  Lost,”  at  Navarre,  France, 
records  the  English  opinion  of  the  feminity  of  the 
new  fashion  thus — u 0,  a most  dainty  man  ! to  see 
him  walk  before  a lady,  and  to  bear  her  fan  ! ” Fal- 
staff , in  the  66  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,”  says  to  Pis- 
tol, u And  when  Miss  Bridget  lost  the  handle  of  her 
fan,  I took ’t  upon  my  honor  thou  hadst  it  not.” 

By  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  use 
of  the  fan  became  general  even  in  the  streets  of  Lon- 
don, and  was  used  as  an  intermediary  in  affairs  of 
love  ; a vehicle  for  broad  satire,  for  comic  verse  and 
epigram. 

The  illustrations  and  paintings  presented  such 
themes  as  Hogarth’s  “ Marriage  a la  Mode,”  scenes 
at  Vauxhall  gardens,  the  Royal  Academy,  and  at 
popular  fairs.  The  rollicking  humor  of  English 
everyday  diversion  was  honestly  reflected  in  the  fan, 
though  languishing  beauties  plied  it  as  incessantly 
as  their  southern  sisters. 

Gay  wrote  a poem  on  the  fan,  and  Addison  in  the 
Spectator  spent  an  amiable  sarcasm  on  this  craze 
and  paraphrased  the  canons  of  u Fanology  ” when 
he  described  u the  angry  flutter,  the  modish  flutter, 
the  timorous  flutter,  the  confused  flutter,  the  merry 
flutter,  the  amorous  flutter.”  Yet  it  must  be  owned 
that  this  affectation  perfectly  suited  other  artificial- 
ities of  the  society  of  his  time,  when  u women  could 


THE  FAN. 


21 


not  make  up  their  minds  to  go  out  without  first 
making  up  their  faces.”  Of  the  conversational  fans, 
autograph  fans,  and  other  whimsical  fancies  in  fans 
of  later  years,  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak  in  this  brief 
review  of  the  most  interesting  facts  in  relation  to  the 
development  of  the  fan.  “ All  ages,  as  we  have  seen, 
have  contributed  to  its  history,  all  countries  to  its 
substance.  It  has  been  a pet  vehicle  for  artistic  ex- 
pression and  has  proved  more  protean  than  any  of 
the  minor  art  forms  which  have  drifted  to  us  from 
traditionary  periods.” 

In  contemplating  this  superfluous  little  u objet  de 
luxe”  in  the  light  of  its  vast  descent,  its  haughty 
pedigree  and  artistic  wealth,  it  is  agreeable  to  reflect 
that  Americans  have  never  been  indifferent  to  the 
charm  of  making  collections.  A number  of  New 
York  women  of  wealth  and  intelligence  shelter  ad- 
mirable “ antiques”  (as  specimens  are  called  which 
antedate  the  French  Eevolution)  in  their  cabinets, 
and  occasionally  carry  them  at  a u costume”  fete. 

By  the  courtesy  of  these  collectors  the  Grolier 
Club  has  been  enabled  to  make  the  present  exhibi- 
tion, which  has  been  confined,  mainly,  to  the  fans 
decorated  by  the  great  painters  and  the  noted  book 
illustrators  of  that  era  of  exquisite  taste  and  marvel- 
ous skill,  the  eighteenth  century. 

For  the  use  of  the  woodcuts  and  portions  of  this  descriptive 
matter  we  are  indebted  to  the  publishers  of  “ The  Century  Maga- 
zine. The  “ Histoire  des  Eventails,  chez  tous  les  peuples  et  h 
toutes  les  6poques,  par  S.  Blondel,  Paris,  1875,”  and  other  works 
on  the  fan  have  also  been  consulted. 


Fan  of  Queen  Marie  Antoinette. 


